Hello and welcome back to English Snacks. I'm
your host Amber. Did you know that all episodes
of English Snacks have a transcript? This means
if you're a visual learner like me, you can read
along. Feel free to look at the transcript or
test your listening skills and read later. The
choice is yours. Today we're going to look at
a small detail in English that can feel confusing.
But once you understand it, things become much
clearer. I'll talk about why we say short -sleeve
shirt and two -year -old boy. Not short -sleeves
shirt and not So here's the idea. Sometimes in
English, a group of words comes before a noun
to describe it. When that happens, we treat that
group like one simple description. And usually
we use the singular form. even if the meaning
feels plural. Let's hear some examples. Even
though the break is five minutes long, we say
five minute here because it's describing the
kind of break. But if we move it later in the
sentence, we can say, The break is five minutes
long. Two. A three -day trip. Not a three days
trip. Here, three day describes the trip. After
the verb, we could say, The trip lasts three
days. 3. A five -star hotel, not a five -stars
hotel. Here we're not counting stars in a normal
way. We're describing the type of hotel. The
hotel has five stars. 4. A 10 -year plan, not
a 10 -years plan. It's the same pattern. We can
say, the plan lasts 10 years. 5. A 90 -minute
movie, not a 90 -minutes movie. The movie is
90 minutes long. 6. A 1 ,000 page book. Not a
1 ,000 pages book. In a sentence, we could say,
The book has 1 ,000 pages. So now let's connect
this to the original examples I told you. We
say a short -sleeve shirt, a two -year -old boy.
Because short -sleeve and two -year -old are
just descriptions placed before the noun. So
we keep them simple and we use the singular form.
Here's an easy way to remember. When the description
comes before the noun, we use singular form.
When it comes after the verb, use normal plural
forms. Let's have a quick practice. Try this
one. Which is correct? A two hours meeting? Or
a two -hour meeting. Yes, a two -hour meeting.
And the meeting is two hours long. If this felt
a little strange, don't worry. It's completely
normal. This is just one of those patterns you
start to notice. more and more over time when
you're learning English. Just keep listening
for it and it will begin to feel more natural.
Here are five example sentences to build on what
you just learned. Feel free to repeat after me,
either out loud or in your mind. 1. She took
a 10 -minute walk before work. 2. We planned
a two -day trip to the coast. 3. He bought a
$5 coffee at the station. 4. They stayed in a
three -star hotel near the city centre. I watched
a two -hour movie last night. Power sentence.
When a number and a noun come before another
noun, use the singular form. When they come after
the verb, use the plural form. Thanks for joining
me today. I hope you enjoyed this episode and
learned something new. Feel free to play it again
and read the transcript if you need. I'm looking
forward to sharing more with you soon. So as
always, come hungry for knowledge.